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Instead of just racing against my friends, we used to spend obscene hours in the battle arena-like City Trial mode, boosting into each other to steal power-ups and rare vehicle parts. Kirby Air Ride is like a cuter version of Melee where you can only play as Kirby and there are just a few stages available. Developed by Capcom, was released for the GameCube in October 2003. When I think of Viewtiful Joe, the first thing that pops into my mind is the vibrant, bright aesthetic the game has become known for. Every inch of the screen popped and it created an inviting world that was easy to get lost in for hours. Viewtiful Joe was great for a number of reasons but its the unique art style that sticks out more than a decade later. The game was even nominated for Best Artistic Achievement in 2003. Viewtiful Joe takes place over seven segments — or episodes — that begin and end with pretty elaborate cutscenes. The game takes place in two different worlds: the real world and Movie Land. The Twin Snakes reimagined the PlayStation original by pushing the drama to the nth degree. Everything we regard as Kojima-esque is on full display here, from bonkers action sequences to drawn-out cutscenes. The Twin Snakes is some magical stuff, even if you prefer the original Metal Gear Solid. Custom Robo was developed by NOISE and the GameCube-exclusive installment marked the first time that a Custom Robo game had been released outside of Japan. It was also the first game from the developer to include full-motion video, which is an essential aspect to the title itself. The storyline, while not great by any stretch of the imagination, is ridiculously entertaining. Seriously, everything about the characters in this game feels exaggerated — and not by choice — but that plays into the enjoyable silliness that sticks with you throughout the entire game. Custom Robo is a game of about customizing robots and having them fight each other in this weird, fourth-dimension looking arena. Nothing about it makes sense and nothing about it should. The gameplay is also notable. Everything about Custom Robo captures what I look for when I play a game: a challenge, a stupid story, enough cut scenes to keep me entertained and adorable looking robots. The multiplayer is a fun addition, turning levels into races or two-player playgrounds. Playing super-fast levels like City Escape on the go sounds like a dream, too. For example, SSX 3 came out around the same time and is, in every conceivable way, the better snowboarding game from a strictly gameplay perspective. What I love so much about 1080 Avalanche, however, is the unique approach it to took to the genre and the killer soundtrack that came with it. Aesthetic and fluid gameplay takes priority over how the game actually feels after more than an hour. One of the reasons that I came back to this game time and time again was the killer soundtrack it had. Like other sports games, 1080 Avalanche proved to be a pretty good entry point for discovering hot bands and tracks at the time — this included Seether and Jimmy Eat World in 2003 — and worked well with the overall aesthetic the game was going for. My halcyon GameCube days were... I had a limited selection of games available to me, because I was a 10-year-old whose parents had the budget for approximately two games a year. What did I spring for? I wish I could tell you I picked up the true classics, like and Resident Evil 4. It has one of and the conceit of using a ginormous egg to attack, travel and climb around the world is pretty fun. But the colorful presentation is something I dearly miss in this age of browns and grays and dread and darkness. An HD sheen would do Billy Hatcher some real good, and its fast-paced enough that a tablet rendition on the Switch would probably be a lot of fun. I want Billy Hatcher back mostly because of what it represents, however. The GameCube was about throwing new ideas to a wall to see what sticks, and Billy Hatcher... There are some diehards hoping for a part two, and maybe the Switch can herald that second act. The game follows Vanessa Z. Schneider, a mercenary who works on colonized planets. In many ways, the shooting felt like an old-school arcade game, and there was a charm to it that many other titles at the time seemed to be lacking. Like the system itself, the game can be misconstrued by those who don't give it a chance to shine. Upon release, the game garnered negative reception because of the gameplay mechanics, but I poured hours and hours into this game, and I came to love its little quirks. I still have my head on straight. Metroid Prime should be on the Switch. Resident Evil managed to spook me from time to time, but at the age of 11, everything about Eternal Darkness scared me from the beginning to end. The game had an eerie soundtrack, an aesthetic that stayed with you long after you finished playing and a cast of interesting characters that were easy to get invested in. The game follows Alexandra Roivas and took place in a mansion on Rhode Island — the home of Roivas' grandfather — where she's investigating his murder. A green bar appeared at the bottom of the screen and certain things would cause it to deplete. For example, if you were seen by the enemy, you'd lose a little bit of sanity, but if you used a specific finishing move on an opponent, you would gain some sanity back. The lower it got, the more warped the landscape seemed and the harder the gameplay became. It was an innovative tool that largely enhanced the game, mostly because of the story that accompanied it. Since then, other games have used a similar device, but there was something about the way that Eternal Darkness used the idea of losing sanity during an investigation into the paranormal that didn't feel exploitive. Instead, it felt contextual and terrifying at the same time, and I've yet to see a game do that as well as Eternal Darkness.
